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Hunger
We've chosen to use the Hunger system of the V5th edition, which can be read below. Hunger Dice For each level of Hunger affecting a vampire character, they gain one Hunger die. Hunger dice are ten-sided,just like regular dice, but should be a different color than regular dice, so players can easily spot them in a pool. (We suggest red.) When a player builds a dice pool for a vampire character, they exchange regular dice from that pool for Hunger dice on a one-for-one basis. If the dice pool for the roll is lower than the character’s Hunger, simply roll a number of Hunger dice equal to the dice pool. The exception: Characters never include Hunger dice in Checks, Willpower, or Humanity dice pools. Hunger dice function as regular dice in tests and contests, scoring successes on a 6 or higher. Hunger dice can not be re-rolled by using Willpower, however, as the Hunger makes a mockery of the rational mind’s attempt to tame it. In addition, r olling a 0 (10) or 1 on a Hung er die carries additional consequences: messy criticals and bestial failures. Messy Critical A critical win in which one or more 10s appears on a Hunger die is a messy critical. The character succeeds as in a regular critical – but like an animal would, not a being capable of foresight or self-control. The Beast scored the critical, perhaps, not you. The Storyteller and the player work together to decide on the level of success and the level of mess: by and large, they scale upward together. The following are results from a good, meaty mess: * The character gains one or more Stains from their monstrous action. * The character breaches the Masquerade, as they visibly demonstrate supernatural strength or speed, or leave gaping bite wounds in a body. * The character loses one dot from an Advantage. For example, you might have totaled your Bugatti (squandering Resources), crippled a Retainer, offended an Ally, or just lost Status in court following your outburst. Although the character still needs to spend time (in a later scene or in the background) to take action to repair the dot, the Storyteller can allow the loss to recover more quickly than other vanished dots. * If none of the above conditions fit the narrative, such as on stealth or awareness tests, the messy critical turns into a simple mess, and the test fails as the Beast clouds the senses or otherwise makes a quiet solution unattainable Bestial Failure A failed roll (not enough successes to reach the Difficulty or to beat an opposing contestant’s number of successes) in which one or more Hunger dice come up a 1 is a bestial failure. Either the character failed because their Beast manifested inopportunely or excessively, or the character’s failure angered their Beast into manifesting inopportunely or excessively. The following are good results from a bestial failure: * The character must act out a Compulsion, as the Blood starts to subtly dictate their actions. (see below) For players new to the game or troupes that want their characters less prone to acting on urges, choose one of the options below instead: * The character loses a dot in an Advantage as on a messy critical. * The character suffers one or more points of Aggravated Health damage. This result works well for bestial failures on resistance rolls, as the character breaks out in bloody sweat from the stress. * If no-one in the troupe can come up with a good idea, the Hunger increases by one. If this result would take their Hunger above 5, the character immediately rolls to resist hunger frenzy (p. 220) at Difficulty 4. Compulsions Compulsions occur on a bestial failure as the Hunger subtly urges a vampire into actions dictated by their Blood, sometimes even instilling traits hailing from their clan’s founder. When a character must take a Compulsion, the Storyteller chooses one or randomly determines one by rolling on the table below. (Try to vary the Compulsions rather than leaning on the clan Compulsion each time, unless you enjoy stereotype overgrowth.) Once chosen, the player decides how best to act it out. Reward players who go above and beyond to play into their Compulsion by allowing them to restore a Willpower point. Note that, unlike frenzy, players cannot spend Willpower to ignore the effects of a Compulsion. These insidious urges compel behavior that feels utterly natural; the vampire may never realize they were influenced. Sample Compulsions * 1-3: Hunger * 4-5: Dominance * 6-7: Harm * 8-9: Paranoia * 0: Clan Compulsion* Hunger The archetypal Compulsion: with Hunger, the vampire’s thoughts inexorably stray toward the rush of sinking their fangs in prey and hot blood washing over the tongue. The vampire will do anything to slake their Hunger, whether that means violence, subterfuge, or outright begging. They perform any action not immediately conducive to feeding at a two-dice penalty to their pools. This Compulsion ends when the vampire slakes at least 1 Hunger level. EXAMPLES: * in a social setting: Instead of questioning the mortal witness, the vampire moves the situation toward a seduction. * in a violent setting: The vampire discards their weapon, throwing themselves headfirst into a grapple, determined to feed. * in a solitary setting: The vampire decides they need a break and just happens to end up at a sweaty nightclub. Dominance The Blood urges its host to come out on top, to own, and to establish dominance. This Compulsion drives the vampire not only to excel but to revel in it, taunting the weak and challenging the strong. The vampire makes their next interaction into a competition, using all means at their disposal to end up victorious and to rub the nose of the loser in their defeat. The vampire cannot use teamwork and performs any action that * in a social setting: The vampire turns a civil conversation into a one-upmanship exercise, alienating the person whose trust they sought to gain. * in a violent setting: The vampire pauses to toy with a mortal opponent, basking in their superiority, instead of focusing on the objective. * in a solitary setting: The vampire becomes obsessed with accomplishing their objective in a novel way, proving their superiority to themselves and the world. Harm Things turn ugly: the Hunger compels the vampire to hurt and destroy – not to feed or to win, but for the sole sake of causing harm, reveling in the pain of others. This Compulsion often, but not always, means physical harm. It can also involve subtler types of damage such as social or emotional. The vampire performs all actions not immediately resulting in someone or something getting harmed at a two-dice penalty to their pool. This Compulsion ends when the vampire incapacitates, destroys, or drives away a target. If the vampire turns on an object, it must hold serious value to someone the vampire ordinarily values, such as themselves. * in a social setting: A smooth introduction goes sour as the vampire starts to harass and psychologically torture the subject. * in a violent setting:Instead of leaving an incapacitated adversary, the vampire gleefully starts tearing into the unconscious opponent. * in a solitary setting: Annoyed at a minor inconvenience, the vampire takes a baseball bat to their expensive computer rig. Paranoia Hunter and hunted, a vampire always needs to keep their eyes and hears peeled for trouble. With this Compulsion, that need flares in to fullblown paranoia as the Hunger reminds the Blood of its vulnerability. The vampire tries to disengage from any perceived threat, suspecting anyone and anything. Any action not taken toward that immediate end incurs a two-dice penalty. The Compulsion ends when the vampire has spent roughly an hour in a safe spot: e.g., a rooftop with good visibility, their haven, or buried deep underground. * in a social setting: The vampire treats everyone with suspicion, trying to get out of any and all engagements. * in a violent setting:The vampire tries to end or escape the danger by any means, whether running or begging for their unlife. * in a solitary setting: The vampire sees threats where none exist, lashing out and fleeing, fixating on random occult symbols or weird coincidences. Clan Compulsions The specific forms of the Blood flowing down from the Antediluvians warp their inheritors to suit a millennia-old pattern. Whether this Compulsion represents inherited defects, necessary release valves, or part of some ancient Working, it can prove inconvenient in the moment. Brujah: Rebellion The vampire takes a stand against whatever or whomever they see as the status quo in the situation, whether that’s their leader, a viewpoint expressed by a potential vessel, or just the task they were supposed to do at the moment. Until they’ve gone against their orders or expectations, perceived or real, the vampire receives a two dice penalty to all rolls. This Compulsion ends once they’ve managed to either make someone change their minds (by force if necessary) or done the opposite of what was expected of them. Gangrel: Feral Impulses Returning to an animalistic state, the vampire regresses to a point where speech is hard, clothes are uncomfortable, and arguments are best settled with teeth and claws. For one scene, the vampire gains a three-dice penalty to all rolls involving Manipulation and Intelligence. They can only speak in one-word sentences during this time. Malkavian: Delusion Their extrasensory gifts running wild, the vampire experiences what might be truths or portents, but what others call figments of imagination, dredged up by Hunger. While still functional, the vampire’s mind and perceptions are skewed. They receive a two-dice penalty to rolls involving Dexterity, Manipulation, Composure, and Wits as well as on rolls to resist terror frenzy, for one scene. Nosferatu: Cryptophilia The need to know permeates the vampire. They become consumed with a hunger for secrets, to know that which few or no one knows, almost as strong as that for blood. They also refuse to share secrets with others, except in strict trade for greater ones. All actions not spent working toward learning a secret, no matter how big or small, receive a two dice penalty. The Compulsion ends when the vampire learns a secret big enough to be considered useful.Sharing this secret is optional. Toreador: Obsession Enraptured by beauty, the vampire becomes temporarily obsessed with a singular gorgeous thing able to think of nothing else. Pick one feature, such as a person, a song, an artwork, blood spatter, or even a sunrise. Enraptured, the vampire can hardly take their attention from it, and if spoken to, they only talk about that subject. Any other actions receive a two-dice penalty. This Compulsion lasts until they can no longer perceive the beloved object, or the scene ends. Tremere: Perfectionism Nothing but the best satisfies the vampire. Anything less than exceptional performance instills a profound sense of failure, and they often repeat tasks obsessively to get them “just right.” Until the vampire scores a critical win on a Skill roll or the scene ends, the vampire labors under a two-dice penalty to all dice pools. Reduce the penalty to one die for a repeated action, and remove it entirely on a second repeat. Ventrue: Arrogance The need to rule rears its head in the vampire. They stop at nothing to assume command of a situation. Someone must obey an order from the vampire. Any action not directly associated with leadership receives a two-dice penalty. This Compulsion lasts until an order has been obeyed, though the order must not be supernaturally enforced, such as through Dominate. Rousing the Blood Every time a vampire rises each sunset, calls upon vampiric powers, or stirs their Blood some other way, they risk rousing their Hunger. When a vampire surges Blood into their Attributes, takes on the Blush of Life, or mends their damaged body, the rules call for a Rouse Check. Activating most Discipline powers also comes with the price of at least one Rouse Check. To make a Rouse Check, the player rolls a single die. As always, a result of 6 or higher succeeds. On a success, the vampire’s Hunger remains unchanged. On a failure, the vampire gains 1 more point of Hunger, and thus gains one more Hunger die. Any Hunger gained is added after the desired effect resolves, so it is perfectly fine to make the Rouse Check at the same time or even after any other dice test involved, as long as the Rouse die is clearly distinguishable and won’t be mistaken for part of the pool. Some conditions, such as increased Blood Potency, allow the player to roll two dice on some Rouse Checks and pick the highest.One success (6+) on either die prevents Hunger from increasing. (This is equivalent to re-rolling the Check.) At Hunger 5, the vampire’s body is too starved of blood to provide increased supernatural power. A vampire can never intentionally Rouse the Blood while at Hunger 5. If some outside factor forces a Rouse Check on the vampire, the player must make an immediate hunger frenzy test at Difficulty 4. As always, failing a Rouse Check at Hunger 5 still activates the effect that caused the check, if any. Slaking Hunger Drinking blood reduces a vampire’s Hunger level by a fixed amount. Only draining a human of blood, thereby killing them, can reduce Hunger to 0. Younger vampires can reduce Hunger to 1 without killing a human victim. As a vampire’s Blood Potency increases, so does their resting Hunger level. Above BloodPotency 7, for example, vampires cannot reduce their Hunger below 3 without killing a human victim. It takes time to drink blood and care to do it properly. The bite of a vampire can seem downright euphoric to the victim; vampire fangs produce a supernatural intoxicating effect while opening up a blood vessel. Assuming the vampire takes the time to hit a vein or artery correctly and licks the wound closed afterward, the victim may only remember the encounter as a drug trip, an interlude of weird rough sex, or just a delirious fog of drunken intimacy. Even a closed wound and happy hallucination for the victim might still leave behind an air embolism, to say nothing of long-term anemia. As a general rule, attempting to preserve the victim’s life, health, or blissed-out screen memory (all of which of course also preserve the Masquerade) takes longer than simply ripping open an artery and slurping down the red stuff. On the other hand, a victim who fights back slows things down and endangers the Masquerade. A vampire can drain and kill a helpless or otherwise unresisting human in roughly five turns. Feeding from Animals With very few exceptions, mostly animals larger than human mass, feeding from an animal kills it. A very careful vampire who takes a whole scene to feed could perhaps slake one point of Hunger without killing a large dog, if for some reason they valued the dog’s life. Even then, the dog would likely wind up crippled or badly injured. Large animals can hold a great deal of blood – a cow contains almost 40 liters of blood and a horse more than 50, compared to five in most humans – but animal blood simply doesn’t nourish vampires’ true appetites. Animal blood never harbors Dyscrasias, for example (p. 227), and even Gangrel find drinking exclusively animal blood more bland than ecstatic. For vampires above Blood Potency 2, no amount of animal blood can slake even a single point of Hunger. Feeding from Bagged Blood What about just buying and feeding from medical blood bags? Unfortunately for the vampire community, most medical supply blood is fractionated: centrifuged to separate the plasma from the blood cells and then stored as plasma, packed red blood cells, or other blood products. Even whole blood comes stored with anticoagulant preservatives such as CPDA-1. All of these alterations makes bagged blood unpleasant (at best) to drink, and almost useless to Kindred. Without the Iron Gullet Merit (p. 182), vampires gain no sustenance from processed blood. Unprocessed bagged blood, as with animal blood, cannot slake any Hunger for drinkers with Blood Potency above 2. Bagged blood, like all blood more than about 15 minutes out of a body, has no Resonances or other empowering effects to the drinker, although Tremere and thin-blood alchemists can some- times still use bagged blood and blood products in their Rituals and Formulae. The act of Blood Sorcery Ritual or distillation awakens its latent Resonance, but consumes it in the same instant. Feeding from Other Vampires A vampire who feeds on another vampire slakes 1 point of their Hunger for each point of increased Hunger they inflict on the donor, willing or unwilling. Feeding from a vampire of at least two levels of Blood Potency higher than the drinker slakes 2 points of Hunger for each point of Hunger gained by the donor. Conversely, feeding from a vampire of at least two levels of Blood Potency less than the drinker slakes only 1 point of Hunger for each 2 points of Hunger inflicted on the donor. Feeding directly from another vampire also risks a Blood Bond (p. 233). Bite Attacks Vampires can use their fangs as weapons during a Brawl-based attack. To attempt a bite attack, the player must declare their intention to bite before rolling their dice and remove two dice from their pool – bite attacks are easier to defend against and harder to target on exposed flesh. Regardless of the number of successes rolled, vampire fangs do two points of damage with a win on the Brawl roll. Fangs deal Aggravated Health damage to mortals and vampires. On turns following a successful bite attack, the vampire can feed from the target. At this point, the vampire suffers no penalty to their Brawl pool – a successful bite is hard to dislodge. Feeding does one point of Aggravated Health damage to mortals per turn as well as slake 1 Hunger for the feeder. Against a vampire target, a feeding attack increases the target’s Hunger by 1 per turn, instead of dealing additional damage. (See Feeding from Other Vampires, above.)